The subject invention is directed to a waterproof and airtight fiber cable splice enclosure assembly. Assemblies of the type under consideration are particularly well suited for enclosing and housing fiber optic cables such as loose buffer and unitube type cables and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, the apparatus could equally well be used with other types of cables or wires such as, for example, hybrid cables including copper wire, twisted pair wire or co-axial cables.
Many different types of fiber optic cable enclosures are known in the prior art. These prior enclosures are satisfactory to a greater or lesser degree but often have certain defects which make the them inconvenient to use or prevent them from being readily adaptable to changing environments and conditions. One example of an optical fiber splice case that presents a significant improvement over the earlier devices found in the prior art, however, is taught in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,933, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. Many of the features described in my earlier patent are present in the novel device described herein to a greater or lesser extent and either directly or by equivalent structure. In addition to providing improvements over my earlier apparatus, the subject optical fiber splice case presents further significant improvements over prior art devices as well.
It is, accordingly, a primary object of the subject invention to provide a cable enclosure assembly that is easy to assemble and use in the field and which has a variety of different sizes with trays and internal supports that form an inner raceway. The volume of the device enables the enclosure to store buffer cable together with unitube cable within a single closure at the same time. In addition, the subject invention provides an enclosure that provides improved pull-out load carrying capability of the cable and further provides for improved air and water tight sealing between the cable and the housing. Still further, the subject invention provides an enclosure that allows for easy manipulation of cable tie-down straps by including an improved internal tie-down clip arrangement that enables the tie-down straps to be manipulated in the field from a front face side without removing the clips. The clip arrangement also eliminates the need to reorient the housing as was the standard practice in the past to gain access under the connection clips to guide the tie-down straps through the clips. A metered air valve is provided to permit the hermetic integrity of the housing assembly while preventing over inflation.